Hormone Balance
by L Kersley
Hormones within the body are produced by the endocrine glands and controlled by the endocrine system. They function as chemical messengers using the bloodstream to target specific organs within the body. The body contains several endocrine glands that can be seen in diagram one. As can be seen both male and female bodies contain the same secreting glands with the exception of the reproductive organs. The male produces hormones from the testes whereas the female produces hormones from their ovaries.
Hormones function with a key and lock type function, this gives them great advantage as they can circulate throughout the bloodstream and only target the specific organ. This means that the body can produce very small quantities of these hormones and still have significant effects. These messenger hormones send signals to cells which modifies there activity in response to messages from the brain.
As these hormones can significantly alter the function of cells within the body with such a small concentration they must be tightly regulated. The body achieves this by using negative feedback loops i.e. when levels of the hormone have achieved their desired effect the body turns this signal off.
The endocrine system is made of 8 separate organs which are distributed throughout the body, however they are all tightly controlled and interrelated through this process of feedback loops. The protein hormones will interact with cell surface receptors that trigger conformational change within the cell that triggers a cascade of activity resulting in cell activity. Where as Steroid hormones can pass through the cell wall and initiate cell activity directly. This allows steroid hormones to function much more rapidly.
Hormones function with a key and lock type function, this gives them great advantage as they can circulate throughout the bloodstream and only target the specific organ. This means that the body can produce very small quantities of these hormones and still have significant effects. These messenger hormones send signals to cells which modifies there activity in response to messages from the brain.
As these hormones can significantly alter the function of cells within the body with such a small concentration they must be tightly regulated. The body achieves this by using negative feedback loops i.e. when levels of the hormone have achieved their desired effect the body turns this signal off.
The endocrine system is made of 8 separate organs which are distributed throughout the body, however they are all tightly controlled and interrelated through this process of feedback loops. The protein hormones will interact with cell surface receptors that trigger conformational change within the cell that triggers a cascade of activity resulting in cell activity. Where as Steroid hormones can pass through the cell wall and initiate cell activity directly. This allows steroid hormones to function much more rapidly.
Because these systems are so complex minor errors within these signalling loops can have major consequences. There are several reasons for errors occurring, each individual has unique DNA, this means that each person will have slight differences in their DNA so that when DNA is translated to RNA and then transcribed to synthesis proteins not everyone is the same. In general these slight changes to not make a huge difference however in some cases these can have a monumental effect on the individual.
When this happens an imbalance in hormones occurs, which can give rise to several to different disorders ranging from diabetes to gigantism. To date over 7,000 endocrine disorders have been describe that are caused by imbalances in a hormone pathway. Currently many treatments are available for these conditions however because researchers are trying to carry out a delicate balancing act it can often push the disorder to the other extreme. Thankfully with more DNA exact treatment becoming available it may soon be possible to tailor a therapy to an individuals disorder. The only draw back appears to be the use of human stems cells in this field of research which slows down all research in this field due to the unpopularity of this technique. In other articles on this site a more in-depth look at stem cell research will be carried out and try to dispel some of the many myths that surround this topic.
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